Release Day Picks: December 8th New Album Highlights

Each week Release Day Picks profiles new LPs and EPs Team JamBase will be checking out on release day Friday. This week we highlight new albums by Jim James and Chris Thile. Read on for more insight into the records we have all queued up to spin.

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Jim James – Tribute To 2

The Scoop: Way back in 2001, Jim James mourned the death of George Harrison by recording a handful of the “Quiet Beatle’s” songs. Eight years later, the My Morning Jacket frontman finally issued the sparse Harrison covers under the Yim Yames moniker as Tribute To. Today, Jim James unveils the second installment, titled Tribute To 2, and this time he selected songs “that reverberate with hope and blur the boundaries of time and genre” from 11 different artists and gave them the full treatment. James picked tunes from a diverse batch of acts ranging from Bob Dylan to Elvis Presley to Willie Nelson to Sonny & Cher. One of the standouts is the LP’s lead single, The Beach Boys’ “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” listen:

Label: ATO

Producer: Jim James

Number Of Tracks: 11

Running Time: 39:56

Tracklist:

1. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (The Beach Boys)
2. Baby Don’t Go (Sonny & Cher)
3. Wild Honey (Dianne Izzo)
4. Midnight, the Stars and You (Ray Noble & Al Bowlly)
5. Crying in the Chapel (Elvis Presley)
6. Funny How Time Slips Away (Willie Nelson)
7. Love Is The Sweetest Thing (Ray Noble & Al Bowlly)
8. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Bob Dylan)
9. Lucky Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
10. The World is Falling Down (Abbey Lincoln)
11. Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Chris Thile – Thanks For Listening

The Scoop: The 10 songs on Thanks For Listening were penned to be presented as the Songs Of The Week on A Prairie Home Companion. Talented mandolin player and most recent APHC host Chris Thile enlisted program regulars Sarah Jarosz, Gaby Moreno and Aoife O’Donovan to add vocals throughout the record. The former member of Nickel Creek and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient played nearly all of the string instruments on the album. Following recent sexual misconduct allegations against Garrison Keillor, NPR severed all ties with the former A Prairie Home Companion host and founder and Minnesota Public Radio revealed the program will now be titled The Show With Chris Thile. Featuring Moreno’s vocals, listen to “Thank You, New York” here:

Label: Nonesuch Records

Producer: Thomas Bartlett

Number Of Tracks: 10

Running Time: 43:03

Guest Musicians: Alan Hampton, Thomas Bartlett, Ted Poor, Sarah Jarosz, Gaby Moreno, Aoife O’Donovan

Tracklist:

1. I Made This for You
2. Feedback Loop
3. Elephant in the Room
4. Douglas Fir (feat. Aoife Donovan)
5. Thank You, New York (feat. Gaby Moreno)
6. Stanley Ann
7. Modern Friendship (feat. Sarah Jarosz)
8. Falsetto
9. Balboa
10. Thanks for Listening

Stream / Download / CD/LP

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Compiled by Andy Kahn and Scott Bernstein.